More detail on this person: It is with great
sadness that I report on Friday, September 17,
CW4 (R) Norman Cox passed away at his home in
Clarksville, TN. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
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I saw in the TAPS section of the Jan/Feb 2011
issue the notice of the death of CW4 (Ret) Norman
Cox. Norm and I served in the 57th TC Co (CH-21)
in 1962-63 in Viet Nam. I was the maintenance
officer. We had been supplied with new self
sealing fuel bladders. What we were not told was
that the new bladders held less fuel than the old
bladders. We didn't trust the fuel guage systems
in the CH-21 to start with so we carried a
calibarted wooden dip stick in each aircraft to
get a more accurate reading. However, without the
new information about the cells holding less fuel
our dip sticks were now not accurate either.
We had a ship go down in the plain of reeds due to
engine failure. After spending 3 day in the muck
and mud we had a new engine installed. Then we
had to fly out our Vietnamese soldiers who had
provided area security for the 3 days. Norm and I
were hauling the last load of troops out in the
repaired helicopter. As policy, the pilot flew
with his head out of the cockpit and the co-pilot
monitored all the instruments. I was in the
pilots seat and we were at about 100 feet and 100
knots when Norm said, "Captain, I been watching
that fuel guage fluxuate and .....THERE IT GOES!"
We ran out of fuel. I went into autorotation and
had to flare the ship rather steeply to stop short
of a tree line. In doing so, I hit the ground
with the tail cone on the CH-21. This cone was
fiber glass just in case this happened so you
didn't do any structural damage. However, it was
a bugger of a job to change the tail cone when you
busted one because one mechanic had to get
inside the rear section to buck the rivets from
the inside. That was a tight fit and a hot job
any time. The tradition in CH-21 companies was if
you got "a piece of tail" you had to buy the crew
chief a case of beer. Likewise, if you ran out of
gas (regardless of the reason) you bought a round
of drinks in the club. As the senior officer on
the crew I had to shell out.
As an aside to the story, we had to make a radio
call to have them fly us a 55 gallon drum of fuel
out to the site. The troops we were carrying
formed a defensive position around our site just
in case some VC in the area decided to try and
take us out. Norm, I and the two EM on the crew
(crew chief and door gunner) were standing around
waiting for the fuel when shots were fired - some
from some distance from our site and some from
our defending troops. We all hit the ground
thinking we were under attack. When the Viet Nam
troops we were carrying saw our reaction they all
started laughing. The shots fired by both sides
were merely recongition shots because the base
camp had sent out a column of troops to help us if
needed. However, they failed to inform us this
was going to happen and we thought we were under
attack.
The 57th Helicopter company (later 120th Aviation
Company) have held several reunions at Ft.
Rucker/Ozark over the years since then. Norm and
I always re-tell the story for those who had not
heard it and had a few laughs at ourselfs over the
incident. I was deeply saddened to hear of Norm's
passing. As always, I miss an old comrade with
whom I have had the honor of serving our country.
God bless Ameria.
From: Donald R. Jordan, LTC, USA-Retired,
Master Army Aviator